KHPA Website - responsibility being handed over.

Mark Ashton Smith is no longer going to be updating the KHPA website as from 29th September 2007. Too much work and too little contact with his Cornwall flying friends. Time moves on. Not able to do a good enough job in keeping track of what's going on back home. Phippsy has offered to help. Thanks Graham.

KHPA Bulletin - Sept 2007 - now online! [click here for pdf]

Fun off the Line - Graham Phipps. Buddi Buoys and Quick Releases - Tim Jones. Meandering Across the Country - Graham Phipps. Kernow Cross Country League to Sept 25th 2007. Minutes of the KHPA September

Trip to France / British Nationals HG

"Sunday 19th August - Saturday 2nd September we were in France for some "free flying" at Larange and then competition flying (British Nationals HG) in St Andre. We had a top time with plenty of flying and excitement in what proved to be an eventful trip. Kaz managed to get some mountain flights in and can now say that she has flown and survived at St Andre. The comp' went well with myself returning with the third place trophy and Wills Wing T2's taking 2 of the top four places. Maybe we will have a fun trip there next year." (Phippsy)

KHPA Bulletin - August 2007 - now online! [click here for pdf]

It's been one whole year since Tim Jones took up the post of Bulletin Editor - well done Tim.

Debacle at the Turkish Open - Mark Ashton Smith. 'Could this be true?' photo. Wanda's search across the web continues - Wanda Summers. Kernow Cross Country League to Aug 30th 2007. Minutes of the KHPA August 2007 meeting.

Sennen & Gwenver - A Gentle Reminder.

Remember it is absolutely vital that anyone flying at Sennen or Gwenver contacts Lands End ATC BEFORE flying!

BB Acro Games, Ölu Deniz, Turkey : 8th - 12th August / The Turkish Open, Kayseri: 18th - 24th August.

Click here for a gallery of Mark and Annie's latest trip to Ölü Deniz for the 1st Belcegiz Beach Acro Games. Click here for an article of a fiasco at the Turkish Open in the flatlands of Kayseri where Bork had to cut away all his lines after crashing into a tree while the Valic brothers climbed to cloudbase.

Raul Rodrigez retires! August 3rd 2007

Raúl Rodríguez, Acro Paragliding World Cup Champion, the most well known and respected ACRO world champion pilot ever, has announced that he is to quit competition flying. Raul has perhaps been the most influential pilot within the sport of paragliding and his contribution to the discipline of acro has been imeasurable. Raúl, invented most of the extreme acro manouvres used today, such as the “Sat” or the incredible “Infinity Tumbling.” He is still the current Guiness world record holder for the most consecutive “Infinity Tumbles” completing a perfect 108 tumbles in June 2006. In June this year he won the Vertigo Voss acro competition. While Raul now focuses on research and development for Niviuk gliders, his brothers Alex and Félix, and his cousin Horacio, all three world class competitors, will continue competing.

X-Alps winner: Alex Hofer!

Martin Müller, watchmaker and Swiss champion, 40 years old, finishes the X-Alps race first  (flying/hiking = 56% / 44%) - but is docked 36 hours for aispace infringements so can't win! Within a few hours Swiss champion Alex Hofer (flying/hiking 61%/39%), comes in 2nd after flying around 150km on the last day to catch up lost ground. He gets the official X-Alps victory. Romanian powerhouse Toma Coconea (flying/hiking 24%/76% - incredibly), gets in next and is official runner up. Fourth in is 50 year old Urs Lötscher - also Swiss, and the best tactition of the competition. Will any others cross the finish line?

Toma Coconea, overjoyed, kisses the ground at the finish

X-Alps on line : Fight for the finish today! 5th August

The 850km vol bivouac adventure race through the Alps. Alex Hofer is flying like a demon, overtaking 50 year old Urs Lötscher who is also flying well. Powerhouse runner Toma Coconea from Romania is only kilometers from the leader, Müller, who can't win because of a time penalty. Hofer may still win. UK's Aidan Toase is fighting for a top place. Click here to see who gets podium spots. Check out the 'live tracking' link to follow the action.

Sennen and Gwenver sites

There are now signs at Sennen and Gwenver reminding people to call ATC. Also one at Gwenver saying 'By permit only'. Sarah the owner
has had one or two people who have been a trifle off hand and she would rather it was club only or with her permission. Martin Jones

Thinking of buying a new paraglider?

Analysing the statistics of the UK cross-country league for 2006 and 2007 reveals which the popular wings are now. Click here for a pdf file of this analysis by Mark AS for DHV 1-2 and 2 wings. Some of the figures might surprise you. Included are performance figures from Para 2000, the most comprehensive database on paragliders on the web.

For sale

Xcertina Bags in stock the must way to pack your new Paraglider, keep it stiffer for longer! £34.95

Thermal Flying - the book specifically directed at Paraglider & Hang Glider pilots , so good I bought one myself, easy to read, loads of pictures/photos excellent for all pilot skill levels £27.95 (hard back)

Cornwall Hang Gliding & Paragliding Services
www.flychaps.co.uk 01209842877 07785593559

Bork gets heat stroke in Anatolia!

Just in case anyone was thinking that Mark AS might be getting a bit of a smug git with his flying adventures in Turkey (not true), here's what happened to him the last time he tried to fly in the Turkish sun: serious heat stroke (not just heat exhaustion). Once back at the apartment, he pretty well collapsed. Annie had to wrap him in cold towels for several hours to bring his temperature back down! And this is 'fun in the sun'. More details here.

 
Clinical heat stroke (click to enlarge)

KHPA Bulletin - July 2007 - now online! [click here for pdf]

Dune bashing at Praa Sands. British Open Series Round 2: The Saga Continues - Graham Phipps. The Mere Bash. More Aerotowing (This Time in Holland). Kernow Cross Country League to July 23rd 2007. Report from Turkey - Mark Ashton Smith. Minutes of the KHPA July 2007 meeting.

The spirit of free flight

Click here to download a beautiful video from the JustAcro movie library. Where were these guys flying? (Note - this is a big file. Right click on the link to save the movie to your hard drive.)

BCC round - 4th-5th August

I'm trying to arrange a round of the BCC in the mid Wales area for the weekend of 4th and 5th August. If anyone who would like a friendly comp ring me by Wednesday 25th July I will be grateful. That will give me time to finalise things.

Daisy - Phone 01209 843380

CHAPS Promotions

Bit of Hot news. Check out the Summer edition of Adveture Cornwall magazine for an intro article on paragliding featuring a super shot of Terry looking very cool www.adventure-cornwall.co.uk available at most local retailers, tourist info centres etc.Also look out for "Copast" magazine due out mid July for a more in depth "Taster Day" article. Phippsy

KHPA Bulletin - June 2007 - now online! [click here for pdf]

Towing :You Should Give it a Go - Wanda Summers. British Open 2007 - Graham Phipps. About that 'new paraglider'! Glider for sale. Interesting website. Kernow Cross Country League to June 23rd 2007. Notes from the past: Phippsy's diary, 1987. Sennen and Gwenver sites. Photocaption.Minutes of the KHPA June 2007 meeting.

Demos / For Sale

"Ozone Buzz Z demonstrator just arrived, if you want a test flight on the glider that is set to become a classic call now." Phippsy

Cornwall Hang Gliding & Paragliding Services
www.flychaps.co.uk 01209842877 07785593559

NOVA ARTAX (medium) DVH 1-2; less than 100hours and still in very good nick; clean looking in patriotic colours. Ideal first or second glider; well practiced in cross country flying with nearly 300 ks under its risers. £695 ono. Contact Robin Mogridge tel: 013647243 mob: 07980929535 from South Devon Club. As I live just east of Plymouth on the A38, I'm not too far from most of your members for the purpose of showing off the canopy to anyone interested in buying it.

Robin Mogridge.

Cloud flying on Babadag, Ölü Deniz, Turkey - 7th June, 2007

Mark Ashton Smith was lucky to meet up with New Zealand paraglider pilot Matt Senior flying an Up Trango who took these stunning pictures of cloud flying on Babadag mountain. Click on the picture for the gallery. The camera was a Canon Powershot S60, the preferred paragliding camera according to Matt. And for some random person's video of cloud flying on Babadag...

cloud flying at Babadag

Denizli Pre-World Cup, 23rd-27th May

Mark AS and Annie Anderson flew as guest pilots on the final day of the Denizli Pre-Word Cup, Turkey. More details at Bork's blog here. Just pay a fiver, and you get transport / retrieve, free lunch, briefings, and medical support for the day, plus lots of experienced and friendly pilots to give you advice and fly with. Point is, for this kind of competition anyone can join in, and there are people who travel around doing these kinds of comps just for the fun of it, not expecting any top places. Why not try to coordinate a holiday with one of these comps and register for it? Well worth it for the experience and socializing. Here is the FAI calendar of comps for this year. Go to spain and do a comp for a day or two - just join in! Or Turkey - in August there is an open in Kayseri!

KHPA Bulletin - May 2007 - now online! [click here for pdf]

British Open Hang Gliding Trophy goes to Kernow pilot...again. Report by Tim Jones. Brand new paraglider design launched. Airways Airsports Isle of Man TT '07. Kernow Cross Country League to May 23rd 2007. Minutes of the KHPA May 2007 meeting.

British Club Challenge 2007

There is a BCC comp this weekend, 19th-20th May, either in Cornwall or SE Wales (though this is probably going to be cancelled, due to the weather). There is also one in SE Wales weekend 2nd-3rd June. Anyone interested should ring Jon T. on 01736 757771.

BCC 2006 winners and runners up (Avon and Kernow)

British Open Series (HG) - Report from Phippsy

The Bank Holiday weekend saw me head to Wales for the first round of the British Open series and the British Open competition itself. the weather was not as good as forecast however we did mange to fly. Under an unimpressive sky a crosswind turn point was set followed by a partial crosswind leg to the coast totaling 31k. Flying a brand new "out of the box" Wills Wing T2 144 i managed to be the only flex wing pilot to reach the goal so winning the task by a good margin. Unfortunately the weather then refused to play ball so no further flying took place resulting in my first place taking the overall comp.

KHPA Bulletin - April 2007 - now online! [click here for pdf]

So - what have you been up to lately? Report by Tim Jones. Kernow Cross Country League to April 30th 2007. Rogue pilot latest. Paraglider for sale. Minutes of the KHPA April 2007 meeting.

A busy day, Saturday April 21st Phippsy reports

Saturday 21st had a light southerly forecast with the potential for some thermals making an interesting day. The first few tows of the day proved that things were stirring and on my first on the Para to test conditions I found a gentle thermal which took me to over 1000' before pulling back to the field to get things moving. Phil S on the Hanger got off to an interesting start by bouncing off the telephone cables and redesigning the Calypso but preserving himself in fine shape. Keith W then set things in motion for the Para's and completed his remaining CPC tasks so completing his tow rating whilst also putting in a bit of thermalling alongside it. Well done Keith. Ray M had another super day consolidating on his CPC flights and hooked a couple of thermals to 360 in back over the field accompanied by shouts of delight - amazing. Ray also had to pose for yet more photo's for the article due to appear in Adventure Cornwall mag'. ...The hangers also had a good time with Adrian G trying the Mars before converting to a chest release then moving onto the Calypso and loving every moment of it and his BBQ was good too. Ron H-D was down to keep his hand in which he did very well and enjoyed a 10 minute "stooge" around the field in gentle lift with out a vario before putting in some pretty good spot landings. Phil S got back in the air and proved he can do it and also sneaked a go on the Tandem Pg. With plenty of "free" flyers and tandems Tim J on the winch pushed the new tow record to 80 for the day!! A special mention must got to Jon T who flew from Godrevy hill site where he thermalled up to the tow site on his new Mantra M2... proves something....stunning.....

For an ongoing update of Cornwall HG and PG Services click here.

Ölü Deniz , April 12th

Remember this place? For those of you who are thinking of coming out to Ölü Deniz this summer, here is a picture of Annie doing full stalls over the water yesterday. After the stalls she SATed it into Butterfly Valley. While she was doing this, Bork was busy trying to kill himself (see blog).

Annie at the stall point

Flychaps news, April 11th

Things have been hotting up on the tow field with loads of training going on along with plenty of "free" fliers turning up. March 26th saw myself go to 3,500' on a Paraglider out of the Deadmans Cove field before returning to earth to carry on teaching.

More recentely on Saturday April 7th 3 Hang Gliders piloted by Martin Fox, Paul Dunstan and Alan James went to around 2,500' from the Hells Mouth field where i joined them on a Paraglider before once again having to pull big ears to get down to teach leaving them to have a fab' time before heading back to the field for a good chat. There has also been plenty of boyant air around for the students to play with so summer is definitely on the way.

Check out the "What's On" page at www.flychaps.co.uk if you are interested on whats been happening or what is likely to and fancy joining in.

safe flying - Graham Phipps (Phippsy)

Bork and Skybabe Annie back in the loop, 9th April 07.

It's been a paragliding cul de sac in Anatolia over the winter. Dead. Now the season has taken off again and Turkey is fun again. Here are some photos of this weekend's paragliding festival in Kas (a couple of hours down the coast from Olu Deniz), organised by locals Ugur (pronounced 'oor') and his friend Murat. There is a new 650m take-off at Kas which you can see by scrolling down here. It's only a 15 minute drive and is easy to get to. Kas is a more interesting town than Olu Deniz with a genuine Turkish community, so it's worth checking out. You can fly along the coast from Kas to Kalkan - 20km of breathtaking scenery. It's paradise here guys. Looking forward to seeing you out in Olu Deniz soon! - Mark Ashton Smith

 
Kas, South Coast of Turkey

KHPA Bulletin - Feb 2007 - now online! [click here for pdf]

1995 Revisited - Rob Ings. Kernow Cross Country League to February 20th 2007. Spicing up Club Meetings questionnaire. Minutes of the KHPA Febrary 2007 meeting.

The luckiest woman alive.

Polish/German skybabe Ewa Wisnierska, paragilding world champion and woman of steel who lives in her car to live the free life, gets sucked into a cu nimb in the Manilla World Paragliding Championships, climbs at 20 m/sec to 32,612 feet (cruising altitute of Boeing 747s) among hail stones the size of oranges, loses consciousness for 40 minutes, returns to earth 60 km from take-off with frostbite and covered in ice, and lives to tell the tale ready for flying the next week! The Chinese pilot He Zhongpin who was sucked into the same cu nimb wasn't so lucky. BBC report here. Australian newspaper report here.

Frostbite Competition, 17th-18th Feb.

Hi Guys

The Kernow Hang Gliding & Paragliding Associations annual Frostbite
Competition is now scheduled for the weekend 17th/18th February here in sunny Cornwall, there is no back up dates so it will be good weather. As usual this will be a fun comp' with XC flying from the coast on the mythical sea thermals, ridge racing and spot landing as conditions dictate.

The saturday evening will be an informal affair in one of the local pubs nodoubt with further inter club competitions taking place. All pilots are
welcome although it should be taken into consideration that if the wind is Northerly we may be flying at St Agnes Head which has no bottom landing.

I have taken on the organising and those up for it should contact me on the numbers below for further details. Anyone looking for accomodation can normally find plenty of floor space at various pilots homes or there is
plenty pubs that can provide B&B.

See you there

Graham Phipps (Phippsy) 01209842877 07785593559
Cornwall Hang Gliding & Paragliding Services www.flychaps.co.u

Winter flying at Sennen.

Ron on his Rush:
Photo Martin Jones

The Thames Valley "Big Fat Repack", 11th March

This reserve packing get-together is to run on Sunday the 11th of March 2007 at the Rivermead Leisure Complex, Reading. For more details click here.

KHPA Bulletin - Jan 2007 - now online! [click here for pdf]

My Full Frontal Frolic - Nigel Eagle. CHAPS year 2006 - Phippsy. Club notices. Making meetings more attractive to members survey. Rule for the Kernow Cross Country League 2006-7. Minutes of the KHPA January 2006(?) meeting.

Car Parking at Perran Sands in 2007.

Some members will have received direct from Perran Sands Holiday Centre a letter setting out the terms for a parking permit to operate from March 2007. A charge of £10 is required and applications must be made before 13th January. Only a limited number of parking permits will be issued and priority has been given to persons who took up parking permits last year. Persons not obtaining a permit will be required to purchase parking tickets on a daily basis and I think the charge will be £2.50 per day.

This system has been applied to limit the amount of casual parking following complaints by residents in the Holiday Centre about difficulties caused by visiting cars parking near the caravans.

Previous conversations with the management encouraged me to hope that some special arrangement would be made for our members. I have been seeking meetings with the staff at the Holiday Centre but because of staff holidays and absences on business nothing has so far been agreed. I have put our case to the Holiday Centre in writing and await their reply.

In the meantime members who have received invitations to apply for parking permits should make application without delay. For other members I will do my best to get an allocation of permits and will get an announcement into our Bulletin and on the web site as soon as possible.

Coady wins Kernow Cross Country League 2006!

This year’s cross country champion is the up-and-coming Pete Coad, narrowly pipping sky god Jon Trewartha to the title. Hearty congratulations to Pete, and well done to all those who flew cross countries in Cornwall, and took the time to enter their flights.
The winning team was the Grizzly Bears, who showed that team work will often win out over Prima Donna individuals! Well done the Green Machine and Little Al. - Tim Jones

KHPA Bulletin - Dec 2006 - now online! [click here for pdf]

2006 BHPA AGM - Mark Woodhams. Club notices. Kernow Cross Country League 2006. Minutes of the KHPA 2006 Annual General meeting.Minutes of the KHPA December 2006 meeting. Kernow members' contact list.

Season's Greetings!

A nice card for the season from Wynne and Martin Jones.

Skybabes in Turkey! 16th Dec 06

Annie is not the only woman flying in Ankara, Turkey. There are dozens of them training every weekend. In the UK we find one women in 50 flying paragliders, in Turkey it seems to be 50/50 judging from the Ankara scene. Check out Bork's photo album from today's flying on Racon Tepe. (Even thought the sun was out, the flying was crap by the way.) Ataturk did very well for the women of Turkey.

BHPA Annual General Meeting, 2nd Dec 06

Mark Woodhams and Alan Phipps attended the BHPA AGM and the Sport and Leisure Aviation Show at the NEC in Birmingham on Saturday 2 December 2006 on behalf of the KHPA.

Mark’s summary report of the AGM will be written up for this month’s Bulletin.

Mark concludes: The AGM was short, sharp and well run. The Show itself was not huge and quite a few expected faces were missing. We understand that some of the usual trade stands were deliberately staying away to make a point about cost and convenience. Alan and I enjoyed the Show, but were sad not to see some old friends and I think looked back fondly to the days in Telford. Having said that, I understand that Telford have put up their prices so I'm not sure the missing exhibitors would be pleased with that either.

We did the Show and AGM in a day, which is a hell of a lot of driving but enjoyed it very much - especially Alan's super ham and salad rolls! But that's another story.

Club Coach Course a success

16 attended the club coach course over the weekend with a 50/50 split of hangers to paras and a total of 10 from Kernow. Will the KHPA now develop the coaching support system initiated by Daisy all those months ago?

7th International Olu Deniz Air Games - 26th - 29th October

Annie and Mark are now getting days of heavy snow in Ankara, but just two weeks ago on the Mediterranean coast they enjoyed 2 days of summer conditions at the Air Games festival in the company of Mike Kung, Felix Rodriguez, Pal Takats, and other lesser mortals. For their gallery of this exciting event, click here. Whatever anyone tells you, flying from Baba dag is fantastic and worth the hassle of the truck fees and British tourists. You'll learn loads and meet a lot of pilots.

Mike Kung flirting with Annie

CLUB COACH COURSE this weekend! - 11th-12th November

The Club Coach Course is this weekend coming (11th/12th). It does not as yet have ANY Kernow Paraglider Pilots booked on it which does not bode well for the future of paraglider coaching in the future! Could anyone who is up for it please contact Graham May (01209 843380) as soon as possible as things need to be firmed up. The course is being held in Portreath with lunch provided both days (sponsored by CHAPS) and refreshments through the day. No cost to club members and £20 to non members. The forecast for the weekend is practically no wind so flying is free unlikely making this an ideal weekend to go for it.

KHPA Bulletin - Oct 2006 - now online! [click here for pdf]

Summer 2006 'Road Trip' - Graham 'Lucky' Phipps. How It All Began - Mark Woodhams. Kernow XC League to Oct 26th, 2006. Club meetings. Flying Sites. Photos from Vault Bay. Minutes of the KHPA October 2006 meeting. Kernow members' contact list.

Mark (Bork) & Annie flying in Golbasi, Ankara, Anatolia. 15th Oct

The last two weekend's Mark and Annie have been joining the Bilkent University paragliding club to fly in nearby Golbasi. The club has it's own bus and store-room for wings. All instruction is free too. We're learning that Ankara has a very strong paragliding scene. Pity about missing the season! Still no 15,000 ft cloudbase stories! Click here for gallery.

Mark AS enjoying the Anatolian plains.

KHPA Bulletin - September 2006 - now online! [click here for pdf]

'We Was Robbed' - both Kernow teams finish second in BCC. Flying in the Haute Savoie - Martin Jones. Club Coaching course. Davidstow. Gay Jones. Kernow XC League to Sept 21st, 2006. KHPA Annual Dinner. Minutes of the KHPA September 2006 meeting.

CHAPS news, Sept 22nd

Cornwall Hang Gliding & Paragliding Services (CHAPS) are pleased to announce that in addition to their teaching of Paragliding on the tow line they are now fully qualified to carry out teaching on the hill including hill conversions for tow rated students. CFI Graham Phipps (Phippsy)is quickly running out of space on his BHPA card with only Pg tandem, power and HG Aerotowing to go. This alongside their existing qualifications in Hang Gliding (Hill, Tow and power) gives them the flexibility to maximise training opportunities based on the weather conditions so minimizing the time taken to train students in both disciplines.

Martin Jones reports on flying in the Haute Savoie, Aug 06.

A Great Trip. Fantastic, signed up with some trepidation for Dennis Trots Alpine Thermal course.....Located in the next valley to Chamonix, the village of La Fayet has the most beautiful surroundings and makes a great base for magic flying. It was roastingly hot on arrival, however the advertised thermals appeared and it was nice and cool at cloud base with amazing views of Mont Blanc and the Aiguilles above Chamonix. The take off from Plan Joux was different, but all the locals seemed totally nonchalant about it! A flat area for arranging your bits and a steep gravelly/shaley slope (that's steep). A nil wind flight to the valley took 20 mins. However when the thermals come through its a different kettle of fish - a quick right turn away from the t/o area, some close inspection of scenic pine trees and then wait for the predicted beeping. The backdrop of limestone wall and the jagged peaks behind t/o are sensational, on top is a huge area of karst or limestone pavement, and from that height the whole range of the aiguilles( including the Drusand Midi) are spread out in front of you. My DHV 1 - Z One, seemed a mite twitchy, but then we worked out my AUW.... too many pizzas!

Another of Dennis's favourite spots requires a 4 wd to get there, perched below a huge fang of rock its the perfect alpine meadow - ending in a cliff. The final day was spent at Annecy, and I managed to cross the lake and clock up some 10 km (at least) finally landing out in a dried up swamp (luckily dried up).

What a great 10 days - thoroughly recommended, attached are a few photos. Here is the web site address for Dennis's courses. For Martin's photos click here.

Bork's Blog - Turkish action from an Anatolian airhead.

Mark AS is using the name Bork and has set up a blog of his experiences out in Turkey. Check it out.

Blorenge Bank Holiday weekend (25th-27th, August)

Post from Alan Knight: "Find enclosed a photograph of Abergavenny, taken from the Blorenge take-off, which unfortunately we didn't due to high winds. Cannot tell you how we fared as they havn't updated the flybcc web-site (why am I not surprised).

Blorenge weekend sky

There was no BCC final and as you can see from the league results this is unfair to us since the 'winners' (Avon) did one more round than us. If we were matched for rounds, we most likely would have won it. Nonetheless we did well getting second out of 15 teams in the country.

KHPA Bulletin - August 2006 - now online! [click here for pdf]

New Editor Tim Jones' Thoughts. Towing with Phippsy. Mode S Transponders. 'XC school in Italy from the horse's mouth (lazy mare)' - Gay Jones. Kernow XC League to August 23rd, 2006. Minutes of the KHPA August 2006 meeting.

KHPA Summer BBQ, Friday 4th August

For some pictures of the enjoyable KHPA 2006 summer barbeque at St Agnes, click here. Photos: Annie Anderson.

Sennen in peak season!

Click on the image for some photos of Sennen Cove packed with tourists in peak season. Also a couple of pictures of Demo Route on the Sennen crag from directly overhead. Photos: Mark AS.

The Beach Cafe, Sennen

KHPA annual summer BBQ, 4th August

We will be holding our barbeque this Friday evening, 7pm, at St Agnes take-off field. For a weather report click here. Flying MAY be possible.

KHPA Bulletin July 06 now online! [click here for pdf]

Editor's farewell. HG British Open Series - Phippsy 5th. BCC HG final - Coady flies 109 km. Rosewall Hill action. Little Al on his mosquito. Stithians firewalk. Dennis Pagen XC Course, Monte Cucco, Italy. Calendar. Blorenge Bash and BCC final. Minutes of the KHPA July 2006 meeting. Kernow members' contact list and useful numbers.

HG British Open Series final round, Long Mynd/mid Wales, 22nd-26th July

The Kernow team were: Graham Phipps, defending his title, Patrick Buxton, Steve Hawken, and Geoff Brook. The final individual and team results over the 7 tasks flown can be found at this link. In an intense competition Graham was just beaten into 5th place behind Dave Matthews and Richard Lovelace who got joint 3rd out of a field of 60 pilots. The winner was Carl Wallbank with Gordon Rigg 2nd. Other kernow pilots were placed: Patrick (19); Steve (29); Geoff (31). As a team Kernow came 5th out of 20 teams. Phippsy's cumulative position over the series is 5th, with Carl Wallbank winning the series.

BCC HG Final Report, July 29th-30th, SE Wales

Graham May , Al James and Pete Coad made up the hang gliding team, with John Trewartha, Dave Stevens, Mark Butler, Mark Ashton Smith, Mike Abbott, Michel Kerhoas and Terry (from Bodmin) making up the paragliding team. Llangattock campsite was busy with all finalist teams from around the country present. The Saturday rained throughout the afternoon and evening as the front moved through. The free Hog Roast at the Bridge Inn pub was a success though. Thanks to Martin and Amy the organisers for that. The Sunday started with a low cloudbase and a stiff breeze - too windy for paragliders, so the final was postponed to the Blorenge Bash - the bank holiday weekend at the end of August. The HG comp, flying from Merthyr, was validated however, since 5 pilots got away. It was blowing between 20 to over 30 mph on the hill so take-offs in 'lulls' were intimidating. Only performance gliders took to the air on the day. Coady flew, and made 109km (just short of Stratford upon Avon). He dropped his airmap near Birmingham airspace so had to land which was disappointing for him. Cracking result in any case. He may have won the comp for Kernow with this score. We are currently awaiting the final result. For photos click here!

Pete and little Al on Merthyr, BCC final

Rosewall Action

Rosewall hill has been seeing some action this July. On Sunday 16th, John had three flights - to Halsetown, Carbis Bay and Troon. The last flight was with little Al, and they both just about got to the convergence. Dave flew to Trencrom, fell in a stream, and got a tick. Mark B. flew to near St Ives. Mike Abbott flew to Halsetown while others thought it had stopped working. What a day. On the 27th July, Pete and John caught a boomer and flew to near Praa Sands!

John flying Rosewall

Phenomenal Freefall stunt

Check out this movie: an amazing configuration of skydivers, found by Alan Phipps.

Proposed BCC Final, July 29th-30th, SE Wales

The BCC Final for both hang gliders and paragliders is proposed for this coming weekend in SE Wales. For updates on the weather click here. For Weatherjack click here. The KHPA PG team are currently placed 2nd out of the 15 teams who have participated, and if we'd done the same number of rounds as the leader we'd be in the lead. We want to win the comp this year. Last year we were beaten to second place by just 1 km! The six finalist teams are Kernow, Avon, Cumbria, SE Wales, Pennine and Dales. The weather is hot and humid though, so there may be a chance of rain or thunder that weekend. Fingers crossed. Contact either John T. or Daisy for details.

Paragliding Art

Click here for an image created by Mark AS, using GoogleEarth and Photoshop. It shows a paraglider flying over Talybont.

KHPA Bulletin - June 2006 - now online! [click here for pdf]

Editor's blurb. June club flying highlights. British Club Challenge, SE Wales, June 3rd-4th, June 17th-18th, July 1st-2nd. Carn Brea and Godrevy action. Why we're so good. News. Request from Sec. Chris. Why we can walk on hot coals. The Red Arrows Are At Your Mercy, But Perhaps You are Too Tired To Care - Nigel Everett (sourced Alan Phipps). Now Where Was I? - Tim Jones. Kernow Cross Country League to June 18th. Calendar. Minutes of the KHPA June 2006 meeting. And more!

British Club Challenge Round (PG), 1st-2nd July

This round of the BCC - called by the Joint Services club - was flown from Talybont. By the end of the first day, the maximum distance flown had been 14km. It wasn't an epic day. Dave got 12km with some nice tactical flying. John Trewartha and Al James got 9km. Pete Coad and Mark AS didn't get away which was frustrating for both of them. Mark got stuck on the spine-back ridge to the west, but luckily wasn’t tempted to thermal over it at low altitude like the guy who ended up getting multiple collapses and reached for his reserve in the lee side rotor. It was Alan Knight’s first flight at Talybont and he got in some good thermalling practice. [continued in previous news items]

British Club Challenge Round (PG), 1st-2nd July

This round of the BCC - called by the Joint Services club - was flown from Talybont. By the end of the first day, the maximum distance flown had been 14km. It wasn't an epic day. Dave got 12km with some nice tactical flying. John Trewartha and Al James got 9km. Pete Coad and Mark AS didn't get away which was frustrating for both of them. Mark got stuck on the spine-back ridge to the west, but luckily wasn’t tempted to thermal over it at low altitude like the guy who ended up getting multiple collapses and reached for his reserve in the lee side rotor. It was Alan Knight’s first flight at Talybont and he got in some good thermalling practice. The Sunday was called for Talybont again, but after waiting at the top for a few hours it was canned. The Kernow pilots left - John, Dave, Al and Mark - as well our Joint Services friend Craig, all flew in a SW'ly from the Blorenge down to the pub (or close by!) for a final pint. Dave SATed it over Castle Meadows! Yes - a SW'ly is a possible wind direction for the Blorenge! As for the comp, we're through to the final at the end of the month with ease!

2 hour walk up! Photo: Alan Knight

Steve Penaluna Trophy awarded for 2006.

The Steve Penaluna Trophy was awarded to Alan James on the 12th June at the KHPA monthly meeting. Al was chosen by a panel for “exceeding normal standards and enthusiasm” in his flying - in the spirit of Steve Penaluna. Well done Al!

Final results from the 2006 European Hang Gliding Championship, June 16th – 29th 2006, Croatia.

Phippsy was in the top half of the 98 competitors. Britain as a whole did well and were 3rd out of 23 nations. Check out the final results here.

British Club Challenge (PG), SE Wales, 17th June.

On Saturday 17th, Dave Stevens, Glen Fowler, Alan James and John Trewartha all drove up to Abergavenny, SE Wales, in John's para van. They got there by 9am, in three hours flat! Due to the high speeds involved, when John took a bend on the road he gave the signal for everyone to lean over to the opposite side - like on a sailing dinghy - to keep the van on the road. Phil drove up in comfort in his BMW. Mike Abbott, Annie Anderson and Mark Ashton Smith met up with them all later at the site that had been called for that day - Nant-y-Moel: a 530m SW'ly. Some epic flights from the Kernow team, and we won the that round of the comp easily. (The Sunday was canned.) Mark AS got the longest flight of the comp at 52.4 km (open distance), landing at Glasbury near Hay-on-Wye after over three hours in the air after being scared out of the sky by a sail plane. He never had a clear idea where he was throughout the flight until asking at the petrol station after landing. (Continued here)

British Club Challenge (PG), SE Wales, 17th June.

On Saturday 17th, Dave Stevens, Glen Fowler, Alan James and John Trewartha all drove up to Abergavenny, SE Wales, in John's para van. They got there by 9am, in three hours flat! Due to the high speeds involved, when John took a bend on the road he gave the signal for everyone to lean over to the opposite side - like on a sailing dinghy - to keep the van on the road. Phil drove up in comfort in his BMW. Mike Abbott, Annie Anderson and Mark Ashton Smith met up with them all later at the site that had been called for that day - Nant-y-Moel: a 530m SW'ly. Some epic flights from the Kernow team, and we won the that round of the comp easily. (The Sunday was canned.) Mark AS got the longest flight of the comp at 52.4 km (open distance), landing at Glasbury near Hay-on-Wye after over three hours in the air after being scared out of the sky by a sail plane. He never had a clear idea where he was throughout the flight until asking at the petrol station after landing. John got to the Bridge Inn in Abergavenny for an open distance of over 40km. Al was flying well on a paraglider again. Glen had a good 10km cross-wind flight, this time with a reserve - an excellent second XC. Mike Abbott had his first 'getting away' experience, coring a thermal over the back up to a few thousand feet and landing 8km away. Well done for this milestone! Mike landed at a valley town where he couldn't take his eye off his kit for a moment for fear of it being looted, while Dave landed at the golf course near Fochriw where the friendly locals were so impressed they bought him a pint! Back on the hill Phil and Annie enjoyed their flights too in the buoyant thermic air, building on their experience. But who was the local know-it-all who was hassling the only woman pilot? The barbeque and chit chat later on at the campsite was enjoyed by all. For some photos from the day click here. For latest results of the comp click here.

    
Annie and Glen on Nant-y-Moel    Phil's torch lights up the para van

Google Earth Track Logs.

Mark AS has discovered a cool way of downloading Garmin GPS flight logs onto Google Earth. The mapping technology is amazing. If anyone wants to do the same with their own GPS logs, contact Mark. It's all free and easy to do!

Latest Kernow XC League results and more...

The competitions page of this website has been updated. Check out the local Kernow league results. Do an out and return ridge run and get on the table for your team (the minimum distance is only 3km)! Also check out the updated national XC comp results and the British Hang Gliding Open Series results.

KHPA Bulletin - May 2006 - now online!

You can download the latest KHPA bulletin by going to the KHPA Bulletin link or by clicking here for the PDF file.

British Club Challenge comp (PG), June 3rd-4th.

A cracking weekend in SE Wales for Mark Butler, Dave Stevens, John Trewartha, Mark Ashton Smith, Michel Kerhoas and Glen Fowler. The Saturday was a very light NW'ly so we flew from the Blorenge. Everyone got away, with cloud base at over 5,000 ASL, but there was a lack of clear XC strategy. Those who were going for distance flew East, but we should all have tracked cross wind over the Black Mountains to the North where the clouds kept working. Glen had an awesome first XC flight ever. At one point he was seen big-earing out of a dark cloud that was sucking him in - and he wasn't flying with a reserve! On the Sunday Dave S, Mark B, and Mark AS all flew open distance from Merthyr to just outside Abergavenny, while John T. flew to Pontypool. These flights were all around the 24-25 km mark and they should have added up to a decent result for Kernow for that day. For photos click here.

John Trewartha's XC from Carn Brea to the Lizard, 30th May.

John T and Mark B were at Carn Brea on this windy but booming day, and both went over the back in challenging thermals. John did two XCs on that day: the first to the edge of Culdrose airspace where he was forced to land since cloud base was just above 2000ft and he couldn ’t get the clearance he needed - keeping a close eye on the helicopter activity below him. On the second attempt he made sure he tracked further East, via Gweek, and made it to the Lizard for 26 km. For his inspirational photos, click here.

looking South at cloud base

Graham Phipps wins first leg of the HG British Open!

Phippsy won two of the three tasks flown in SE Wales over the 28th-30th April, putting him in overall first place in the comp out of over 50 pilots and giving him an excellent start for his defence of the title he won last year. Patrick Buxton was placed 12th, and Steve Hawken and Geoff Brook joint 38th. For Graham's account of the competition, have a look in April's bulletin.

crossing the Severn Bridge into England

Keep a watch out for others if you're doing acro!

Here is an incident from last year's Air Games at Olu Deniz that goes to show that it's important keep aware of other pilots if you're doing acro!  Click here. This movie comes from the excellent Paragliding Forum site.

Bank holiday Monday, May 1st.

A beautiful day with free fliers spread out over the North coast - at Perran, Hayle and Sennen. Roll on summer. For some photos from the day at Sennen by Martin Jones, click here.

Sennen soaring, May 1st

Olu Deniz in April!

Mike Abbott and his family were in Olu Deniz for two weeks this month, renting a car and staying in the villa advertised in Skywings. More of a report from Mike on his flying experiences later. Mark Ashton Smith and Annie Anderson met up with them on Saturday 22nd in the evening at a beach front hotel. Olu Deniz at the time wasn't exactly buzzing. On the 23rd Annie, Mark and Mike had a flight together from the 300m take-off (cloud stopped us flying from the top), as well as a nice relaxing day. The following day Mike, Kim and Finley were off the airport. Annie and Mark took two trips up to the top of Baba Dag but it was blown out both times. They met some very interesting characters that day though. For some photos from their two days in Olu Deniz, click here.

Mahoney's tattoo

Easter weekend BCC (PG) comp cancelled - but Kernow pilots have a good weekend anyway! 14th - 16th April.

Chairman Dave, Mark B. Mark AS, John, Wayne (John's mate), Annie, Manuel, Alan, Michel and Terry (from Bodmin) all enjoyed some Easter weekend action in SE Wales. Kernow pilots flew every day, at Merthyr, Pandy, the Blorenge, Fochriw, and even Rhossili Bay. The best day was at Merthyr. In the afternoon conditions became epic and several Kernow pilots circled up to 4000-6000 ft AGL in booming thermals all over the sky. Mark AS did a mini 6-7 km XC, drifting with a cloud, landing next to a golf course behind Fochriw. The others decided not to go XC (there wasn't far to go) and instead played with the awesome height above and in front of the hill. It was Terry's first inland flight to this altitude and he said it was the best flight of his life. For some reason the BCC comp was cancelled! For some photos from the day, click here.

Mark Butler playing at Fochriw

KHPA Membership form online.

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